Theory on the effort tonight. - Dallas-Mavs.com Forums

Simon2 · 11-28-2003, 11:56 PM

For years, the Mavs have and still are being labeled as a soft team. Analysts would say that in order to win it all, they need a bruiser/tough guy in the middle. Fortson finally shows some fortitude to not allow a highlight dunk on a 30 pt lead and what do the Mavs do in his defense? Nothing. I know the guy broke his wrist but did Fortson really try to hurt him? Nope. The NBA and everyone is down on Fortson but did any of his teamates come to his defense? Did his coach or owner come to his defense? Maybe the players were told not to say anything. As a result, they are shocked that the same franchise they thought "had their back" may not really be there. Is this too far fetched?

MightyToine · 11-29-2003, 12:02 AM

What kind of THEORY is that?

The FACT of the matter is this :

Mavs need another CENTER that is athletic, Blocks shots, shoots a decent Percentage from the field.

WE NEED THEO RATLIFF!!

LRB · 11-29-2003, 12:41 AM

Here's a better theory:

We SUCK when we play on the road. We Suck when Fortson is available. We suck when he's not available. We suck when Dirk's available and we suck when he's out. We suck when Nash plays and we suck when Nash doesn't play. We've won two games on the road, but those weren't good games and the other team had several key players out. If the Mavs played all there games on the road, they'd be a lottery team this year for sure.

MightyToine · 11-29-2003, 12:57 AM

Ummm....in other words, LRB :

We Suck? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

Simon2 · 11-29-2003, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: MightyToine
What kind of THEORY is that?

The FACT of the matter is this :

Mavs need another CENTER that is athletic, Blocks shots, shoots a decent Percentage from the field.

WE NEED THEO RATLIFF!!

I agree on this one. The Mavs needed another tall guy in the middle.

Simon2 · 11-29-2003, 08:42 AM

I guess I was wrong on this theory. Some of the Mavs came to Fortson's defense.

League suspends Fortson 3 games for flagrant foul
Mavericks forward unhappy with Suns owner's comments

12:24 AM CST on Saturday, November 29, 2003

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

DENVER – Danny Fortson wasn't happy with the three-game suspension he received from the NBA on Friday for his shove on Zarko Cabarkapa that resulted in a fractured wrist for the Phoenix player, who was put on the injured list.

But what bothered Fortson more were comments by Suns owner Jerry Colangelo, which Fortson thought were out of line.

Colangelo called Fortson a thug after the incident and called for the NBA to suspend the Mavericks forward for as long as Cabarkapa is out – expected to be six-to-eight weeks.

"All I can say is they said worse things about Jesus, and he still was able to keep going and be successful," Fortson said. "Jesus is my role model.

"But I thought that comment was a little unprofessional. I never even met the guy. Why me? But it's part of the game. Stuff happens. I understand that he's pretty much like a god as far as the league is concerned."

The Mavericks were without Fortson on Friday night at Denver, and he will miss home games Saturday against Minnesota and Tuesday against Washington. Fortson will lose approximately $180,000 in salary for the three games.

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The Mavericks questioned whether the suspension was deserved since it was Fortson's first flagrant foul of the season. The league has a points systems for determining suspensions for players who commit multiple flagrant fouls. But Stu Jackson, the league's senior vice president for basketball operations, said the league reserves the right to impose fines and/or suspensions in addition to the guidelines set forth by the league.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said the punishment was probably just.

"It's within the realm of what the league has done in the past, so you can't really argue it," he said.

As for Colangelo's comments, Cuban said, "Maybe that wasn't appropriate, but I can understand because he was upset and standing up for his player, so we're not going to make an issue of it. If I was in the same position, I might have done the same thing."

Mavericks coach Don Nelson does not condone Fortson's foul, but he stood up for his player's reputation.

"I don't think he [Colangelo] knows Danny Fortson," Nelson said. "Danny Fortson is not a thug. He's a physical player who makes poor decisions sometimes. But he's not a thug."

Fortson's teammates said he may have some recourse if he chooses to take on Colangelo.

"I told Danny he should take that up with the players association," Antawn Jamison said. "When it comes to expressing those kinds of thoughts, that's defamation of character."

LRB · 11-29-2003, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: MightyToine
Ummm....in other words, LRB :

We Suck? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

No. Only on the road do we suck. At home we play great, definitely an elite team. Which perplexes me even more than if we just sucked everywhere.

Chiwas · 11-29-2003, 11:37 AM

Quote:

We SUCK when we play on the road. We Suck when Fortson is available. We suck when he's not available. We suck when Dirk's available and we suck when he's out. We suck when Nash plays and we suck when Nash doesn't play. We've won two games on the road, but those weren't good games and the other team had several key players out. If the Mavs played all there games on the road, they'd be a lottery team this year for sure.

Last seasons the Mavs were one of the best -maybe the best- on the road team. Yet I remember an article saying that it was because Dallas had so many international players and that they felt the same playing in Dallas that in other cities. Weird theory that I wasn't convinced on; however, the Mavs played very well on the road.

Now I think it has to do with that many changes happened just before the opening and the lack of a consistent system yet. They somehow compensate that with enthusiasm and more motivation being in home.

dude1394 · 11-29-2003, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by: LRB
Here's a better theory:

If the Mavs played all there games on the road, they'd be a lottery team this year for sure.

I think the only thing I'll agree with this is about not being a very good team without dirk (right now). I think his injury messed up anything I had hoped to learn on this trip. Nash is obviously still having some issues with not knowing where guys are/are not going to be still. He plays at such a pace that he really needs his teammates to be where they are supposed to be (my theory anyway today).

Having dirk would have given us a gauge on what the team is going to look like, but without him (and then fortson) we bacame very quickly the seattle supersonics playing small ball all game. We do need another big body. Having fortson/bradley/najera as the "bigs" doesn't look like it's going to cut it. Even though Walker's yeoman's work on the boards has counteracted that when fortson/bradley or when dirk can match up.

LRB · 11-29-2003, 12:21 PM

Dude definitely we were hurt with Dirk being out, but we haven't played a good road game all year, and Dirk has been available for most of those games. I don't know what it is but this team drops several levels when not playing at the AAC. If we can't make serious inroads into this tendacy in the next month it will greatly affect our prospects of getting homecourt advantage in the 1st round of the playoffs. if we can't get it turned around this year at all on the road, then well will be lucky to make the playoffs.

If it was a case of this team not having the talent, then it wouldn't upset me so. But we do have the talent to play lots better, even when missing Dirk. We're just flat out not getting the job done on the road.

dude1394 · 11-29-2003, 12:33 PM

Well you are correct, they have looked horrid on the road. The first road trip was without nash (team implodes). The second one has been without dirk (team implodes like a white dwarf).

I was hoping to get a better gauge on the team during this road trip, but can't put much concrete stock in the outcomes. If dirk had been out before the road trip maybe, but at the beginnig, nah, it really messes with them.

LRB · 11-29-2003, 12:43 PM

I hear what you're saying Dude, and I agree that it makes sense to a degree. Trouble is that the Mavs were sucking wind in both games that Dirk and Steve went out before they went down with injury. It's like the sucked already, maybe without the injuries they could have turned things around. Who knows for sure?

Bottom line is that we are almost 20% of the way through the season and we've won only 2 games on the road and have lost 6. Yes we've been decimated by injuries in having a key player out for 2 of those games and out for a partial part of 2 more games all being losses. But our two wins were against teams even more devistated by injury than we were and we struggled mightily to win those. In the case of SA we even had to depend on Robert Horry to miss on of his classic clutch shots at the wire to pull off the victory. The games Dirk and Steve went down in, we were already playing miserably and looked very much like we would lose the game anyways.

This team has gone from being the best road team in the NBA to one of the worst. On a performance for talent basis, I would say that the Mavs are the most underachieving team when playing on the road so far this year.

dude1394 · 11-29-2003, 12:54 PM

I thought I would add a little perspective on the road woes:

Lakers 4-3 (These guys are really going to be tough)
Dallas 2-6
Sacto 2-4
Denver 2-5
Houston 4-5 (watch out eh? )
Utah 1-5
Minn 5-3 (another one)
Spurs 2-5..

Not exactly stellar all around. Maybe TIED for the worst with a lot of company. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

LRB · 11-29-2003, 01:27 PM

Dude you are right in that the Mavs have lots of company with the poor road records. Right now I think that is our saving grace, along with the 8-0 start that we've had at home. I just don't expect the other teams in the West to continue to play so poorly on the road an as much as I would like to see it, I don't expect we'll remain perfect when playing at the AAC.

What gets me is the this road crap seems very much mental like when we play the Fakers, especially when we play them in LA. It's not that teams are beating us, it's that we're brining our "D" game to start almost every road game and hardly ever get it cranked up above our "C" game for any significant period of time. Would it kill use to play at least one road game consistently at our "B" game with spurts of an "A" game. Just one please.

dude1394 · 11-29-2003, 01:39 PM

LRB.. It is queer that it does seem to be mental. Why in the world would our shooting be so much poorer on the road than at home? And the defence just looks really out of sync. The last game where they turned it up against denver at home is a really good example.

However. We blew them out at home while they had to fight pretty hard at their home with us without dirk. We did compete much better last night than against phoenix. So there are some positives. Stevies turnovers are really worrisome, mainly since we are so used to him not having any, it seems.

Bad decisions, dribbling off his foot?? Maybe teams are realizing that unless he is contained, there isn't a lot of hope for them against us.

sike · 11-29-2003, 01:45 PM

[quote]
Originally posted by: dude1394
LRB.. It is queer

nothing...just wanted to point this out![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

EricaLubarsky · 11-29-2003, 02:03 PM

It isnt about opponent's defense at home. We've played teams who have played tighter defense at AA than we have played elsewhere.

It is about missing open shots. How can the difference be so great on open shots?

And open shots are not just open shots- they mandate the flow of the game and seem to get into our players' heads. When we feel like we cant make them, we dont make them and when we dont make them the opposing defense can shrink and flow more easily making it harder for us to get other shots.

FreshJive · 11-29-2003, 02:09 PM

[img]i/expressions/rolleye.gif[/img]"All I can say is they said worse things about Jesus, and he still was able to keep going and be successful," Fortson said. "Jesus is my role model.[img]i/expressions/rolleye.gif[/img]

Colangelo was wrong for calling Fortson a thug, but this sounds like something Mike Tyson would say.

dallas_esq · 11-29-2003, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: FreshJive
[img]i/expressions/rolleye.gif[/img]"All I can say is they said worse things about Jesus, and he still was able to keep going and be successful," Fortson said. "Jesus is my role model.[img]i/expressions/rolleye.gif[/img]

Colangelo was wrong for calling Fortson a thug, but this sounds like something Mike Tyson would say.

Is the answer Jesus? Some say yes. I was thinking more along the lines of Deion Sanders. It is a familiar tune. "He still was able to keep going and be successful," brilliant. Jesus is like Tony Robbins now.

grndmstr_c · 11-29-2003, 02:19 PM

Jesus - the new Tony Robbins.

LMAO[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

FreshJive · 11-29-2003, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: dallas_esq

Quote:

Originally posted by: FreshJive
[img]i/expressions/rolleye.gif[/img]"All I can say is they said worse things about Jesus, and he still was able to keep going and be successful," Fortson said. "Jesus is my role model.[img]i/expressions/rolleye.gif[/img]

Colangelo was wrong for calling Fortson a thug, but this sounds like something Mike Tyson would say.

Is the answer Jesus? Some say yes. I was thinking more along the lines of Deion Sanders. It is a familiar tune. "He still was able to keep going and be successful," brilliant. Jesus is like Tony Robbins now.

I was thinking of the time that Tyson claimed that if Jesus were still around today, Jesus would want to consume certain herbal party refreshments with Tyson.

EricaLubarsky · 11-29-2003, 03:20 PM

Quote:

I was thinking of the time that Tyson claimed that if Jesus were still around today, Jesus would want to consume certain herbal party refreshments with Tyson.

WWJD?

Shove Chupacabra?

FreshJive · 11-29-2003, 03:33 PM

Only if Zarko is a table in a shady synogauge(sp?).

grndmstr_c · 11-29-2003, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: FreshJive
Only if Zarko is a table in a shady synogauge(sp?).

Or one of those damn tax collectors.

FreshJive · 11-30-2003, 08:56 PM

Jesus takes it to the hole

Jesus instructs the kids how to harness thier Chi.

LRB · 11-30-2003, 09:04 PM

That's soooooooooooooooo sacriligious. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

LRB · 11-30-2003, 09:05 PM

OK, I couldn't resist this one:

Do refs go to Hell for making a bad call against Jesus?

FreshJive · 11-30-2003, 09:07 PM

Hey I found them at a catholic supply store. Which makes this next one all the more funny.
Michael Jackson Jesus

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

LRB · 11-30-2003, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by: FreshJive
Hey I found them at a catholic supply store. Which makes this next one all the more funny.
Michael Jackson Jesus

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

Ok stay the hell away from me, I don't want any chance of that lightning bolt getting me as well. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]